Woman still incompetent to stand trial in dog abuse case

KELLY DAME kdame@mdn.net

Published 9:15 am, Thursday, October 30, 2014

A St. Louis woman accused of abusing multiple Shetland sheepdogs has been deemed for a fourth time incompetent to stand trial.

Jean Wess Hansen, 73, is charged with one count of abandonment or cruelty to 10 or more animals. The charge was filed after authorities seized 38 Shetland sheepdogs from her West Pine River Road home in July 2013. Hansen forfeited the animals, some of which went on to give birth to puppies after they were seized, bringing the total to 68 dogs.

Hansen was evaluated for competency and criminal responsibility after the charges were filed, and she was found incompetent in November, March and June. A finding of incompetency signifies Hansen cannot meaningfully assist her defense attorney, who is Dan Duke of Midland.

Midland County Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Beale first ordered Hansen to undergo treatment to regain competency in November, based on a doctor’s opinion that she could do so with intensive treatment.

On Oct. 14, Beale conducted a hearing when the latest report from the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry was received. He ordered Hansen to remain in treatment. Court documents note Hansen has shown some improvement.

The case was bound over to the circuit court after a preliminary exam in September, during which Midland County Animal Control Deputy Rick Shields and Dr. Janet Sherwood, a Midland veterinarian, were called as witnesses.

Shields testified he received calls from veterinarians in other counties and an animal control official from another county where Hansen had been watched due to concerns about unhealthy, malnourished and injured animals. Shields and others from the sheriff’s office went to Hansen’s home on July 3 to conduct a search warrant, seized the animals and recorded what they saw. Wallen presented the photos and some videos depicting the filthy conditions inside Hansen’s mobile home, as well as garbage bags of trash and the remains of two dead Shelties. All the dogs at the scene were emaciated, Sherwood testified.

The charge is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, a $5,000 fine, up to 500 hours of community service, or any combination of penalties.